In recent years, television broadcasting has entered a period of changing with transition from analog technology to digital technology. Not only satellite broadcasting such as BS and CS or cable broadcasting but also terrestrial broadcasting has been switching to digital. In the digital broadcasting, data which is associated with television programs is distributed along with audio data and video data compressed in MPEG-2 format, and the number of available channels is not less than a hundred. Accordingly, many television programs can be broadcasted in comparison with conventional analog broadcasting.
A user who is watching television usually selects a desired television program by changing channels one after another (hereinafter referred to as channel-surfing) by pressing a Channel-up or -down key (hereinafter referred to as a channel selecting operation), which is a button to select a channel. A user sometimes performs channel-surfing in order to find a television program that the user has decided to watch, but often in order to view television programs being broadcasted on other channels and decide a television program to watch when the user is not interested in a currently watching television program.
In channel-surfing, intra-coded frames (I frame) necessary for audio and visual presentation are usually distributed only once every 0.5 seconds. Thus, audio and visuals may not be presented instantly because obtaining an I frame or, even when an I frame has been obtained and decoding of audio and video has started, checking restriction, such as parental lock information, set on an apparatus takes some time. Because of this, audio and video of a newly selected channel is presented not immediately after a channel selecting operation but after a black screen. This causes a problem that the user, without knowing what the user's channel selecting operation has caused with a television apparatus, is prevented from selecting a channel quickly for a desired television program through smooth channel selecting operation.
An electronic program guide (hereinafter referred to as an EPG) is known as a technique to solve the problem. Broadcasting stations distribute EPGs to show users details of scheduled television programs sorted by channels and time, thus enabling the users to select desired television programs to watch using the EPGs.
However, in order to launch the EPG, it is necessary to press a key to which the EPG function is assigned. Accordingly, to change channels to select a television program using the EPG is one thing, and changing a currently watching television program to a desired television program without much attention, which is characteristic of channel-surfing, is another.
A broadcast receiving apparatus which provides a method for seeing details of current television programs without pressing a special key is presented that lists details (such as channel numbers, television program titles, still images) of all the current television programs when the apparatus detects start of channel-surfing (see Patent Reference 1, for example).    Patent Reference 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-5873